How is this Possible?
by luminare91
Summary: She had only intended to make sure that the trappers had not found any dragons after freeing themselves from the ice. She had not expected to find this stranger boy astride a dragon. She had not expected for her world to tremble.


**Title:** How is this Possible?

**Fandom: **How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)

**Rating:** T for fantasy violence and mild language

**Pairings:** Canon pairings, if they come up

**Spoilers: **Through both movies. The books may or may not be spoiled. I have not read them and so cannot say what, if anything, will be spoiled

**Warnings:** Slight violence and language.

**Beta: **No beta. All mistakes my own.

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, I do not own _How to Train Your Dragon_ any more than I do any of the other fandoms I write for. They belong to DreamWorks and Cressida Cowell. I am only indulging in a bit of fantasy with their characters.

**Summary: **She had only intended to make sure that the trappers had not found any dragons after freeing themselves from the ice. She had not expected to find this stranger boy astride a dragon. She had not expected for her world to tremble.

_Author's Note: Lion's teeth! I'm actually writing and posting something again! If any of you are here because you're expecting an alert for Return of Merlin or Albion Rising, I can only apologize. I could go on for pages about how crazy the last year and a half (dear lord, has it actually been that long?) have been for me, but that would be boring. I am not giving up on those stories. I have decided to do some much needed proof reading and continuity editing on RoM and AR is simply waiting for the next chapter. I can't promise that they will be up soon, but they will be up…at some point. _

_There's not actually much to say in regards to this fic. I've been watching the HTTYD movies nonstop while doing my homework lately. This popped into my head. _

How is this Possible?

Cloudjumper crooned, pulling Valka from the half-sleep she had allowed the wind to lull her into. He had his head cocked back to look at her. When their eyes met, Cloudjumper jerked slightly, indicating the ground with one horn. She knew instantly what he was saying. They were close.

Grimly, Valka rose to her feet on his back. Her hand tightened on her staff and she gave it a quick rattle. They and the handful of dragons that had followed them immediately vanished into the clouds.

It was unlikely the trappers had found prey after the Bewilderbeast's attack. The great alpha had sent out a warning that all dragons, of his nest or not, would hear, but there was always the chance that some poor creature would wander into the trappers' path. Once they had seen the newly freed dragons to the safety of the nest, she and Cloudjumper had gathered a few volunteers to make sure that the trappers left without harming another dragon.

The clouds parted beneath them. Valka leaned forward, scanning the ocean below. She saw the ship far in the distance sailing toward what she knew was Drago's base, though she had never been there. Her eyes narrowed. They appeared to be leaving, but one could never be sure with dragon trappers. Carefully, she started to lean her weight on Cloudjumper to tell him where she would like to go, but then something caught her eye.

A small, blacked-winged shape was streaking toward the clouds. Even from the distance, she could tell that the shape was a dragon, an exceedingly fast one, at that. A telltale shriek reached her ears. Valka smiled beneath her mask. That was a sound she had not heard since Berk, but it was one she could not have forgotten if she had tried. The call of a night fury was unforgettable. Automatically, she traced its trajectory and a small gasp escaped her when she realized that it had come from the direction of the trappers' ship.

_If they harmed that creature_… she thought, a dragon's growl rising from her throat.

Valka glanced back at the ship. It was almost gone. In just a short while it would be too close to Drago's territory to risk following. The night fury was the greater priority. It could be injured. Quickly, she shifted her weight and Cloudjumper banked sharply.

"Stay within the clouds," Valka instructed. "If the night fury sees us and spooks, we will never catch up with it."

The great stormcutter nodded once. A powerful flap of his quadruple wings lifted them into the underside of a thick cloudbank. Valka did not need to look behind to see that the others had followed.

Luck was on their side. The night fury was flying lazily, even aimlessly, now that it had reached the clouds. Still, its reputation for stealth went undamaged. Valka would long ago have lost sight of it without Cloudjumper's aid. Its flight was nearly silent and it blended effortlessly into the shadows cast by the uppermost clouds, if the scant glances she could managed were anything to judge by. She noted, with some surprise, that it seemed to be headed toward the mainland. Odd, she would have thought that the night fury preferred an island nest. Most of the shyer breeds did.

A gap in the clouds unexpectedly opened up and offered Valka her first close glimpse of the elusive dragon. What she saw nearly sent her tumbling from Cloudjumper's back in surprise.

The night fury had a rider.

Before she could get a better look, the gap in the clouds vanished, but Valka could not deny what she had seen. A saddle had been forced on the dragon and a young man had been bent low over the night fury's back. He had been slight, but armor clad. One of Drago's men, she was sure.

Cold fury rose in Valka's breast, mingled with horror and confusion. This was too far. How dare Drago force these majestic animals to carry his men? Was it not enough that he enslaved the dragons through some heinous means? Must he force them into being little more than pack animals? And to force it on a dragon as rare and incredible as a night fury. But how had he done it? Forcing a dragon to fight for him was one thing. All that really took was killing the queen of the nest. Most dragons were hive-minded, more or less. With the right knowledge, it was fairly simple to replace the queen. Forcing a dragon to bear a rider was entirely different. That took time, time to either gain the dragon's trust or to break them completely. She had not thought Drago had the patience to even attempt it, let alone a man willing to get that close to a dragon.

Above her, she heard the rider cry out in frustration. The night fury crooned. Low murmurs followed, but the words were lost to the wind. Valka bent low and laid one hand on Cloudjumper's head.

"Let's make an entrance, shall we?"

Cloudjumper warbled excitedly.

Valka straightened. Carefully, Cloudjumper caught an updraft that slowly carried them through the cloud separating them from the night fury and its rider. She lifted her staff so that the top pierced the clouds before she did. A low, warning croon reached her ears as she rose above the mist as well. She did not recognize the sound of it. Slowly, her gaze lifted. The night fury hadn't slowed in its flight. It was, however, watching her, its jaws still slightly parted from its croon. Her anger dimmed just slightly to be replaced by confusion and curiosity. It had been warning its rider.

The rider was laying flat on the dragon's back facing the sky. He was younger even than she had first assumed, barely out of boyhood, and slighter than any of Drago's men she had ever seen. His hair was short and windblown and his armor was little more than well-crafted leather that looked as though it had been made to mimic dragon scales. He had no weapons that she could see. Even more surprising was the saddle. The seat was small, barely more than a leather pad positioned high on the night fury's shoulders to keep it out of the way its wings. A single strap passing at the base of the dragon's throat kept it in place. It looked, dare she think it, comfortable for the night fury. Complicated stirrups attached to the saddle and secured around the dragon's front legs by metal rings drew her eyes. At first, she thought them some means of keeping the night fury well behaved, but then her eyes traced the wires back along the dragon's body. They attached first to the base of the saddle at it's back where they were wrapped in thin leather to keep them from weathering and from wearing on the night fury's scales. The leather-wrapped wire continued down the dragon's back to his tail. Only long practice kept her from gasping aloud. The night fury was missing a tailfin, without which, he could not fly. The wires connected to the red leather that had replaced the missing fin obviously controlling its angle and extension. What kind of person was this rider to have found a downed dragon and helped it reach the sky once more?

She had no time to think of an answer. The rider finally noticed her.

"Aw, come on, dad!" he cried in annoyance, sitting up. "Really?"

The rider's eyes widened. His startlement at seeing her was almost as great as hers. He was not the only one to ride?

By this point, her rage had mostly faded. It wasn't gone. Oh no, it was never really gone, but it was banked in the recesses of her mind, ready to burn as it always was at the cruelty dealt to her dragons. This rider was a mystery. He sat astride a night fury missing a tail fin. Though he stared at her, he had made no motion for any kind of weapon. In fact, his hands had merely drifted toward the saddle. All evidence pointed toward someone who at least saw dragons as something more than savage beasts, but that had always been impossible. She had argued with the people of Berk for years with no success. It could be a clever ruse to draw her in, but that seemed even more far-fetched. He was a great mystery, indeed, and the gods help him if she did not receive the answers she wanted.

Valka tapped Cloudjumper lightly with her staff when they drew past the night fury and its rider. He pulled her back beneath the clouds. Above, she could just make out the rider murmuring something to the night fury, but once again, could not make out the words. With her free hand, she signalled to the dragons soaring behind Cloudjumper.

"Now," she whispered.

The stormcutter let out a cry and burst through the clouds directly in front of the strange pair. This was the first true test. To Valka's growing surprise, no attack was forthcoming. Not even when Cloudjumper swooped around the night fury and the rider in a great circle. The night fury beat its wings to remain in place, kicking up great tendrils of cloud, but did not strike. Neither did his rider.

Valka pointed at the rider with her staff, both to capture his attention and to signal the dragons. He stared at her, fear and awe mingled on his face. Cloudjumper came to halt in front of the night fury.

"Hold on," the rider cried. "Hold on."

The night fury glared at Cloudjumper, its eyes narrowed, but it pupils remained wide, a sign that it was not under duress. It was growling lowly, a warning not to come too close. Cloudjumper returned the growl with a screech of his own. The night fury didn't even flinch. It just continued to level a gaze at Cloudjumper that dared the larger dragon to try something.

Throughout it all, the rider remained calm. He said nothing, just stared at Valka with the same fear and awe as before. Still, he made no move for a weapon.

A whining cry broke the standoff. The night fury's head whipped around, pupils finally narrowing in distress. One of the dragons, a snafflefang, dove down and snatched the rider from his saddle. Dragon and rider tumbled together under the onslaught before finally falling apart.

"TOOTHLESS!" the rider shouted. His voice rang with dismay and horror. One hand reached for the dragon.

The night fury responded with a cry as broken as the human's.

_A named dragon,_ Valka realized. _Just what have I found here?_

She did not watch the night fury fall. It had been obvious that it would. Perhaps that was how the rider controlled it. Dragons desired little more than to be able to fly. If the rider controlled the tailfin, he controlled the dragon. A crack echoed through the air as the dragon crashed through the ice. Its cries of distress only increased. Finally, Valka looked back. The night fury leapt from the water, only to fall back without a working tailfin. Again, it tried, scrabbling at the broken ice, fear and loss etched across its scales.

_What have I found, indeed._

Sea dragons surfaced briefly and wrapped the night fury in their wings. Valka knew they would take it to the nest. There, she would get her answers.

"Hey!" the rider shouted. "Hey! You left my dragon back there! He can't fly on his own, he'll drown!"

_It is a very clever deception, if deception it is_, Valka mused. Perhaps, just perhaps, this rider was like her after all.

Eventually he fell silent, save for a few gasps of surprise or alarm, and they made it back to the nest. A company of dragons awaited them in one of the entrance caves. Valka nodded to the snafflefang. He soared into the room and dropped the rider onto the ground. His knees buckled when he hit the ground. Immediately the rider rolled forward in a graceful somersault that brought him back to his feet. He spun around to face the entrance.

"Hey!" He paused for just an instant when it dawned on him that dragons in varying states of wakefulness surrounded him, but then paid them no mind. "We have to go back for my dragon!"

_Yours, indeed. We shall see. _

The dragons approached. They were curious about this new being she had brought. Valka waited for him to attack or to cry for help, as most who hated dragons did. Instead, he remained calm. He backed away a few steps in caution. With his left hand, he detached something from the side of his trousers. He flicked his wrist and a blade slid out. There was a click. Flames licked around the blade. Flames, with a familiar scent.

"Monstrous nightmare saliva," Valka whispered. It was clever, she would admit. The dragons would recognize the scent and assume that the one possessing it was one of their own. The rider waved the blade around, showing that dragons that he too could manipulate the flame. Their eyes followed its almost hypnotic movement. One dragon directly in front of the boy looked almost ready to fall back to sleep. This was either a very clever ruse, or he truly meant the dragons no harm.

One of the dragons behind the boy crooned. He spun around in surprise. Realizing that there were more dragons than he had thought, he sheathed the fire-blade. Something else was removed from a compartment on his trousers and popped into the hilt. He crouched low. In a fluid motion, he spun around, spraying zippleback gas from the sword. When he had come full circle, he flicked something on the hilt. The gas ignited.

The dragons drew back in surprise. To a one, they all stood straighter, some of their wariness falling away. The rider rose as well. The fire-blade was returned to its place on the side of his trousers. He lifted one hand and, with a calmly determined expression, approached the nearest dragon.

Valka had seen enough. The boy had not reacted in any of the ways she had anticipated. It was time to get answers.

She slid her feet to the ground with deliberate force. At the sound of her step, the rider drew away from the dragon he had been reached for. His hands lifted when he saw her, the fingers spread and palms forward, held just slightly away from his body in a sign that he meant no harm. It did not escape her notice that he carefully distanced himself from the dragons, as well. A sign of respect? An attempt to get away from beasts that he hated? Or an attempt to protect them if she proved to be the enemy?

"Who are you?" he asked. "The dragon thief?"

Valka circled him silently. He glanced around. "Uh…Drago Bloodfist?"

Not one of Drago's men, then, if the rider did not recognize him on sight. Drago was a hard man to forget. Valka remained silent. Maybe he would reveal something if she got him frustrated enough.

His voice was just the slightest bit louder and clearly more impatient when he spoke again. "Do you even understand what I'm saying?"

Now that his composure had slipped, it was to start pressing him. She twirled her staff. The carved holes and rattle-stones caught the air with a hum. The click of the rattles echoed slightly off the cave wall when she slammed the staff to the ground. Before the sound even had time to die away, the same snafflefang who had seized the boy leapt up behind her, the night fury dangling from his claws.

The moment the night fury was on the ground, the rider ran toward it.

"Toothless!"

Valka cocked her head at the relief in his voice. The rider barely slowed as he slammed into the night fury's head, arms wrapping around the dragon's neck in a clearly affectionate embrace. The dragon leaned into the rider, clearly just as relieved.

"It's okay, it's okay, it's okay," the rider murmured. "I'm glad to see you too, bud. You really had me worried, there."

The night fury nuzzled into the rider's face as he spoke, licking the boy and crooning in its own brand of draconic reassurance. Valka could only stare in awe. They cared for one another. Only the more pressing matter of dealing with the dragons surrounding him had taken the rider's thoughts from his night fury and when the night fury had been brought forth, all else had ceased to matter. Surely, this could be no trick of Drago's. The bond she saw before her could not be faked. Who was this boy?

Valka shook her staff, causing the rattles to vibrate. One by one, the dragons behind her kindled their fire in their mouths. A wave of warm light washed over the cavern.

The sound of the dragons' flaming had drawn them from their reunion. The boy was standing now, rather than kneeling beside his night fury, who was crouched protectively beside the human. Valka took one step forward. Immediately, the night fury crouched lower and his tail wrapped around the rider. A low warning growl burbled from the dragon's throat. If she had needed any further proof that the bond was true, this was it.

Carefully, Valka lowered herself onto all fours. She dropped her shield and staff. Moving in a way she knew mimicked the dragons, she approached the pair. The night fury hissed and moved back. Though he looked nervous, the rider kept a restraining hand on the dragon. Even threatened, he did not want this end in bloodshed.

Valka twirled her fingers in an intricate move that she had learned from mother-drakes calming their hatchlings. The night fury's gaze followed her movement. Its eyes rolled back into its head and it collapsed on its back, momentarily unconscious, or something close. She continued forward. One hand trailed comfortingly along the night fury's belly. He was a male, she noted. She had suspected as much, but it mattered little. Her focus was on the human. He looked alarmed, now. And painfully familiar.

His hair was almost the same brown that hers had once been, but it was shot through with deep auburn. The face was almost as fine-boned and narrow as her own. He even had the same high cheekbones. The nose reminded her of someone she had tried desperately not to think about.

Without thinking about it, Valka moved forward. She reached toward the rider with one hand. He backed away until his foot hit the night fury's tail. Unable to go any further, he stared at her hand nervously. She remained half-crouched, trying to show him just as a dragon would that she meant no harm.

Firelight glinted off his green eyes, eyes that had haunted her through many nightmares. She reached closer. He flinched away, muttering incoherently in confusion. The motions tilted the left side of his face more fully into the firelight and revealed a small, pale scar on his chin.

Valka gasped. She knew that scar! How many nights had she dreamt of it, of how it had been given, and of what had happened after? Her mind spun and she drew back, crouching as low as she could.

"Hiccup?" she asked, hardly daring to believe.

The rider frowned. "Uh…d-d…"

His stuttering cut short when she removed her helmet. "C-could it be? After all these years?" Valka stood and took one step closer. "How is this possible?" she muttered more to herself than to him.

How was it possible? How was it that he was here, that he was a dragonfriend, just as she was?

She was relieved to see that most of the fear had bled from his expression. Now the rider – her son – only looked confused and wrong-footed. "Uh…should I…should I know you?"

Reality set back in. She had not seen her son in twenty years and neither had he seen her. Valka shook herself. "No," she replied regretfully. "You were only a babe." The quick beating of her heart caused her to pause. She looked away from Hiccup, just for a moment, to gather herself. There was a slight shuffling sound and when she glanced back out of the corner of her eye, she saw that he had leaned forward just a bit in confused curiosity. Some things hadn't changed then. He always had been curious. Not even out of the cradle and he'd been getting into trouble.

Valka took a deep breath and faced Hiccup once more. She had been gone for his entire life. Dragonfriend or no, there was no telling how he would take this news.

"But a mother," she explained, almost tentatively, "never forgets."

A hopeful smile found its way onto her face. Hiccup inhaled sharply. Then, his eyes widened, and he gasped again, drawing back in astonishment when the meaning of her words finally hit him.

Valka hushed him quickly. If he grew too distressed, he would worry the dragons. There had to be a way to show him why she had been gone, to explain everything without risking them all. Movement caught her eye. She glanced back and saw one of the dragons headed down the tunnel to the Bewilderbeast's cavern. Yes, that was it. Once he saw, he would have to understand.

Smiling eagerly, she turned back to Hiccup and beckoned.

"Come!"

And then she was off, trusting that he would follow.


End file.
